Extra tracks in the Japanese version: "Andromeda
(D.R.A.M. Special)" and "Busted And Blue (Faia
Younan Special)".
"Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" vinyl editions come with a
54-page hardback book featuring art by Jamie Hewlett.
Priced at £275, "Super Deluxe" vinyl box set includes
14 bonus tracks.
Early copies sold through the official
Gorillaz webstore were signed by Jamie Hewlett and Damon
Albarn. The bonus tracks are:Long
BeachColombiansDuetzMidnite
FloatGrilling
With His FaceCharger
(Alternative Version)Andromeda
(D.R.A.M. Special)Busted
And Blue (Faia Younan Special)Carnival
(2D Special)Five
Whales In A DreamGarage
PalaceShe's
My Collar (Kali Uchis Spanish Special)Phoenix
On The HillTranzformer
Standard and "Deluxe" vinyl editions include a download code for the
standard version of the album. "Super Deluxe"
vinyl edition
also contains its bonus tracks as a download. Record Store Day's Black Friday
vinyl is limited to
4,900 copies.

Humanz is Gorillaz'
"party record" set in a fictional post-Trump
America. When
recording the album [in 2015-16, before the presidential
elections], the question in the studio was, "How would we
feel if Trump had just won the elections? How would we party
on that night?".

Jamie Hewlett explained
the title Humanz in June's issue of Q: "Humanz
is not a political statement about Trump - it's about a
world in which he could get elected. Where are we as a race?
Why haven't we grown out of this? Putting the Z on the end
is not a hip-hop statement, it's more like an android Z. Are
we human beings or just humanz? What the fuck is wrong with
us?".

The first official previews for
Humanz were released in October 2016 when the
'Books' for each Gorillaz member appeared on the band's
social media pages. The 'Books' tell how
2D,
Murdoc,
Noodle and
Russel ended up recording the album in London after
their escape from Plastic Beach.

During the album's writing
process and close to its release, Veikko's Blur Page
gathered comments from the
people who were involved in the project.

The album was premiered
on
21-23rd April 2017 at Humanz House Party, the largest ever
geo-specific listening event (accessible only via Gorillaz App).

Although not credited as featured artists, Noel Gallagher
provides backing vocals and Jean-Michel Jarre synthesizers on
"We Got The Power". Graham Coxon was also to play guitar on the
track, but according to Damon Albarn the collaboration turned out
to be "too
rocky" for the album. Instead, Graham is playing guitar on "Submission".

Guest artists whose
contributions didn't end up on Humanz include Liam
Bailey, Raury and Vic Mensa. Morrissey, Sade and Dionne
Warwick passed up the opportunity to feature on the record.

"Andromeda" is
dedicated to the memory of Ethel, the late mother of Damon's
partner Suzi Winstanley. The song also pays a little
tribute to Bobby Womack with a lyric line "It was Bobby gracing".

Leaks: The album's track titles
were leaked on 17th March 2017 as they were found to be
registered in the
PPL database. A couple of days later, nearly finished
versions of "Andromeda", "Busted And Blue", "Charger",
"Saturnz Barz" and "Submission" were found on Vimeo
(uploaded as private videos, but hacked quite quickly with
the password "2017"). The full album was leaked on
20th April with the source being the accidentally sold vinyl from
a Canadian record store.